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A Nassim Taleb Joke: The Trader and The Economist

Nassim Taleb loves to laugh at economists.

In some respects, he believes they are modern day oracles. Making predictions, and modeling their forecasts based on wobbly science and a mixture of empirical insights. Taleb, on the other hand, is a devote mathematician. And that is why it should come as no surprise that he loves to tell this joke about the trader who got fired:

"A trader listened to the firm's "chief" economist's predictions about gold, then lost a bundle. The trader was asked to leave the firm. He then angrily asked his boss, who was firing him: "Why do you fire me alone not the economist? He is too responsible for the loss." The Boss: "You idiot, we are not firing you for losing money; we are firing you for listening to the economist." - Nassim Taleb